'IPL was not on my mind': Ravindra Jadeja opens up on making strong comeback for India after CSK controversy
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Team India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja opened up on the captaincy controversy at CSK during IPL 2022 following his heroics for India in the ongoing Edgbaston Test against England.
Team India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja made a strong comeback for the national team in the ongoing rescheduled fifth Test against England at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Jadeja slammed a terrific century to help India recover from a poor start in the crucial encounter and post a huge total of 416 runs on the board. Jadeja came out to bat at number seven during India's first innings and notched up a brilliant 104.
Jadeja had suffered an injury during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 which had ruled him out for a few weeks. He didn't feature in India's home T20I series against South Africa and made his comeback in the ongoing Edgbaston Test against England after nearly a couple of months.
It was a disastrous campaign for Jadeja in IPL 2022 despite him being made the captain of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) after MS Dhoni decided to step down. Jadeja led the side in their first eight games of the season and could manage to bag only two wins before reliving captaincy for Dhoni to take over again.
He didn't have a great season on the personal front as well and managed to score only 116 runs in 10 matches at a disappointing average of 19.33. He scalped only five wickets with the ball and was ruled out of the remainder of the season due to an injury after leaving captaincy.
CSK failed to make it to the playoffs amid reports that Jadeja was not happy with the team management and the decision to reappoint Dhoni as the captain had not gone down well with the all-rounder. He opened up on the captaincy controversy at CSK during IPL 2022 after his heroics for India in the Edgbaston Test against England.
"What happened, happened. IPL was not on my mind. Whenever you are playing for India, your entire focus needs to be on the Indian team. It was the same for me, there is no better satisfaction that performing well for India," said Jadeja when asked about his dismal IPL 2022 campaign.
Jadeja's 104-run knock against England at Edgbaston is also his first-ever Test century overseas so far in his career. The India all-rounder said to score a century outside of India and in difficult conditions such as England is a huge confidence booster for him.
"It feels really good to do it outside India, especially in England. To hit a 100 as a player is a really big thing. I can really take some confidence in myself as a player from this, to score a 100 in England, especially in swinging conditions, so yeah it feels really good," said Jadeja.